Jerusalem routs Zenit to jump into first place in Group G

Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem moved atop Group G after routing Zenit St. Petersburg 97-81 at Pais Arena Jerusalem on Tuesday. Amar’e Stoudemire recorded his best game yet in a Jerusalem uniform with 26 points and 9 rebounds to pace the winners, who improved to 3-1 and can clinch a spot in the quarterfinals with a win in either of their remaining games. Zenit fell to 2-2. Curtis Jerrells tallied 22 points and 7 assists for Jerusalem, Jerome Dyson scored 18 and Travis Peterson added 14. Jerusalem made 10 of 18 three-pointers (55.6%) Ryan Toolson made 5 of 8 threes for 27 points to lead Zenit, Sergey Karasev scored 12 and Aaron White 10.

Toolson took charge early to give Zenit a 2-7 start, but Stoudemire scored on three straight possessions as the hosts reeled off 8 straight points to take the lead. Sergey Karasev led Zenit back to tie the game at 17-17 before Lior Eliyahu’s first basket gave Jerusalem a 19-17 edge after 10 minutes. Back-to-back Stoudemire threes – both assisted by Eliyahu – helped the hosts take a double-digit lead, 29-19. Zenit struck back with triples by Kyle Landry and Evgeny Valiev, however a three by Malik Hairston left the hosts with a 33-25 cushion midway through the second quarter. However Zenit stayed close and got to 38-37 on a tough three from the corner by Toolson. Jerrells split free throws and then ended the half with a basket that made it 41-37 at the break. Toolson scored the first 5 points of the third quarter to put Zenit in front, but back-to-back threes by Jerrells and Peterson brought the fans to their feet at 49-44. Dyson and Jerrells took charge in a 9-2 push to restore a double-digit lead, 58-48. The lead reached 12 but Anton Pushkov scored twice to get Zenit within 62-56. However Dyson restored a a 10-point margin and despite a Toolson triple, Shawn
Jones sent Jerusalem into the fourth quarter with a 69-59 lead. The teams traded shots early in the final stanza, but Zenit never got closer than 8. A pair of threes by Jerrells on either side of the TV timeout put the hosts up 85-69 with four minutes to go. Then Peterson buried a three and Dyson added a layup to cap an 11-0 run for a 21-point advantage. The lead peaked at 93-70, but Zenit scored the next 7 points to save the potential tiebreaker.

Head Coaches

PIANIGIANI, SIMONE

Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem

"I'm happy with the players' performance. We worked a lot to be ready to compete, but tonight we brought something extra to overcome our injuries. We showed we are one team who are working together. Now everything is in our hands."

KARASEV, VASILY

Zenit St Petersburg

"My players followed the game plan and despite being behind Hapoel in terms of score in three out of four quarters, I had no complaints about their performance. Everything was decided when we couldn’t score for three, four minutes and Hapoel scored some crazy shots."

Players

TIMMA, JANIS

Zenit St Petersburg

"That was a tough game. In this arena, it was hard to even communicate because of that noise from the fans. It was them who inspired Hapoel on crazy shots from nine, 10 meters and they didn’t miss them. That totally brought us down and they felt their game."